Dan Fogelberg Birthday (August 13th)

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg born on August 13, 1951 was an American singer, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist, whose compositions were stimulated by sources as varied genres as folk, pop, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music.

Dan Fogelberg Early Life and Family

Dan Fogelberg, the youngest of three sons, was born in Peoria, Illinois, the child of Margaret, a traditionally skilled pianist, and Lawrence Peter Fogelberg, a high school pop group leader, who spent most of his proficient life at Peoria Woodruff High School and Pekin High School.His mother was a Scottish refugee and his father was of Swedish descent. His father would afterward be the motivation for the song "Leader of the Band". Using a Mel Bay course book, he trained himself to play a Hawaiian slide guitar his grandfather gave to him; he also learned to play the piano. He started his music career at age 14 when he coupled with his first band, The Clan, which paid respect to The Beatles. Hesecond band was an additional cover combo, The Coachmen, which in 1967 launched two singles on Ledger Records: "Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget" and "Don't Want To Lose Her." Another was the blues band, Frankie and the Aliens, who tripped regionally during the 1980s covering songs by Cream and Muddy Waters, among others.

Dan Fogelberg Early Musical Career

After the higher education from Woodruff High School in 1969, he learnt drama arts and painting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and began performing as a solo acoustic player in regional coffeehouses including the Red Herring Coffeehouse where he made his opening solo recordings as part of a folk celebration recording in 1971. There, he was exposed in 1971 by Irving Azoff. He and Azoff – who started his music administration career encouraging another Champaign-Urbana act, REO Speedwagon – moved to California to look for their lucks. Azoff sent him to Nashville to sharpen his talents where he became a session musician and recorded his first album with maker Norbert Putnam. In 1972, he launched his first album Home Free to halfhearted answer. He appeared as a opening artist for pop-folk artists like Van Morrison. His second attempt was much more flourishing: during 1974 Joe Walsh-produced album Souven rs and its song "Part of the Plan" turned him into a celebrity.

Dan Fogelberg Musical Career

Subsequent to Souvenirs, he launched a sequence of gold and platinum albums, together with Captured Angel (1975) and Nether Lands (1977), and found profitable accomplishment with songs like "The Power of Gold." Daniel’s 1978 Twin Sons of Different Mothers was his first of the two team efforts together with jazz flutist Tim Weisberg. 1979's Phoenix attained the Top 10, with "Longer" becoming a #2 hit and wedding standard in winter 1980. This was continued by his another chartbuster "Heart Hotels."

The Innocent Age, launched in October 1981, was his decisive and saleable peak. This double album song had his four and most accepted superhits: "Leader of the Band," "Hard To Say," "Run for the Roses", and "Same Old Lang Syne," backed on a real-life unintended reunion with a ex- girlfriend (Jill Anderson). In 1984, he swayed once more with the album Windows And Walls.

Dan Fogelberg launched High Country Snows in 1985. Recorded in Nashville, it displayed his aptitude in the bluegrass genre. Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas, David Grisman, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen were amongst those who donated to the record. In 1991, Dan Fogelberg launched his album Greetings from the West.

River of Souls, launched in 1993, was his final studio album for Sony Records. In 1997, Portrait included his career with four discs, each stressing a diverse face of his music: "Ballads," "Rock and Roll," "Tales and Travels" and "Hits." In 1999 he satisfied a career-long dream of creating a Christmas album called First Christmas Morning, and in 2003, Full Circle displayed a come back to the folk inclined, 1970s soft rock-style of music for which he and other songwriters from his age had gained admired appreciation.

Dan Fogelberg live performances won praise all across the nation over the years. Nearly all summers, he would execute with full band or in solo acoustic setting; the formats permitted him to display the span of his talent as a singer, guitarist, pianist and bandleader. In 2002, fans showed their admiration by preferring Fogelberg to be one of the first 10 inductees into the Performers Hall of Fame at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Final Years

In May 2004, he was analyzed with advanced prostate cancer. He went through therapy and got a partial remission, which did not remove his cancer but condensed it and stopped its spread. On August 13, 2005, his 54th birthday, Dan Fogelberg declared the success of his cancer treatments and he showed gratitude towards the fans for their support. He retained residences in Deer Isle, Maine and at Mountain Bird Ranch, a 610-acre belonging near Pagosa Springs, Colorado that he bought in 1982. The farm was put up for sale in 2005 and is said to be under bond to be sold in June 2008.

After encountering prostate cancer for three years, he died on December 16, 2007 at his home in Maine with his spouse Jean by his side.